


rumours

by leviadrache



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-15 09:25:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8050948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviadrache/pseuds/leviadrache
Summary: Things said behind closed doors aren't meant to be heard by others after all. So when the students at Yumenosaki hear tender voices behind the door to the archery club, they couldn't know Leo and Tsukasa just have some unfortunately named cats.





	rumours

**Author's Note:**

> if robin hood gacha wrecked you and you know it clap your hand [insert furious clapping sounds]

It is common knowledge that rumours at a school spread faster than a spark starts a flame in oil. Of course, Yumenosaki is no exception to this rule. Although you could say there's not much to discuss in a school full of idols, or at least nothing the mass-media hasn't chewed on for ages until it got boring, but that's certainly not the case. There are quite a few rumours; whether or not Subaru would steal money from Hokuto's bag during lunch break or if there's something (or, you know, Some Thing) going on between Mao's and Leo's sisters. Bets were quite popular among the students, too. Like which unit will sell the most merch this month or, like, the number of people Eichi has already killed.

However the most recent rumour started in front of the door to the archery club. As usual with those things, no one really knows who was the first one to hear the hushed voices behind the closed doors of the archery club room.

There's for example Rei, who heard the voices behind the doors of the archery club hall. He just meant to take a walk to get some fresh air, but – with the not so secret hope to maybe meet Ritsu – that walk took quite long. Looking around to not oversee anything in his surrounding, Leo's unusually soft voice caught his attention, followed by a different, seemingly flustered voice.

_You're such a good kid, Suo! I love you!_

_Leo-san, could you_ please _get off me._

* * *

Taking care of the cats is much more fun than Tsukasa expected it to be. They're quite adorable. Against his expectation, Leo is good - actually _good_  - at looking after them. He makes sure they have enough food, cleans after them and even brings them small toys he brings from a pet store.

While all members of the archery club meant to help, Leo handles everything on his own well, so all that's left for them to do is to play with the cats – which Leo, of course, does as well. Tsukasa almost feels unneeded, but more than anything, he's glad to see Leo act so. So much like the type of person he expected to be Knights' leader.

It's nice to spend their free time in the archery hall to play with the small kittens and Tsukasa is sure he isn't the only one who will be sad once they're gone. But then, that's just how things are. Sometimes things aren't meant to last forever.

Tsukasa's usual, calm and normal life at Yumenosaki is yet another example for things that didn't last forever.

Being the heir to a well-known family, he tries hard to maintain a good relationship with his fellow students. Although he really isn't the type of person to care about gossip, it surely finds its way to his ears.

Of course, the news of people assuming there was something between him and leader or, even worse, him and Leo being A Thing, he feels anything but pleased.

It certainly has to be that irresponsible leaders fault, he does run around confessing to everyone after all. Tsukasa is much more careful than him, so it just couldn't be him.

When even Hajime asks, if it's true that they reached first name base, Tsukasa's patience completely snaps.

"Leader," he calls when he catches Leo sitting around in the hallway after class one afternoon, almost furiously scribbling something into a notebook. "Could you please stop being so obnoxious all the time. Rumours are spreading about us."

Leo doesn't seem to hear him, so Tsukasa repeats himself, once, twice, then once more and another time, until he's annoyed enough to pull the sleeve of his leader. "Hey? Leader! Are you listening?"

Leo growls, grabbing his wrist to pull him down. Being too surprised to react quickly enough, Tsukasa finds himself sitting on the floor next to Leo. "Hey, that _hurt_."

"Just a minute, newbie, I'm almost done," Leo mutters, already absorbed in his writing again. He certainly has to have some serious case of inspiration, so Tsukasa sighs, biting back the urge to correct Leo about his name, deciding to wait. There's nothing to be done when Leo gets like that besides waiting for the inspiration to fade anyway. By now, Tsukasa knows enough about the other to tell such things, though it doesn't make Tsukasa approve of Leo's moods.

Even when aliens can't be a proper explanation to this, it often does feel as if there are multiple people in Leo's body. More than once, Tsukasa saw him change from his usual, irresponsible and annoying self to an actually decent person within seconds. Then there's also the way Leo acts when they're just with Knights. Not like the person Tsukasa expected, but certainly in a way fitting for a leader, a king – even if Tsukasa won't and can't admit that out loud.

Though Tsukasa worries for how much longer he'll have to wait for Leo in this disgraceful position on the floor. He doesn't have any more classes for the rest of the day and there's about an hour until Knights practice starts. People keep walking by and giving them exactly the type of look Tsukasa meant to stop.

"Sooo~" Leo finally beams, swirling his pen around between his fingers. "I just finished a masterpiece. Now I have time to listen to my dear Tsubasa-kun."

For the second time today, he bites his lip before he can correct Leo. It's probably the best to get straight to the point, since anything else will just make this take longer than needed or – in the worst case – will give Leo more inspiration.

"People are talking about us. They say we're, uhm, in a _romantic relationship_ ," he says the last words in English, for the lack of any better word.

Leo looks like he's thinking. For a moment, a wonderful, blissful and amazing moment, Tsukasa thanks God for making this easy. Then Leo laughs, loud and obnoxious.

"Ooohhhh, but newbie," he says, pausing to take a breath after his outburst. "I do love you," he states, almost like a kid that tries to get taken seriously by its parents. "You're so adorable and cute, I can't be helped but love you. No matter how embarrasingly bad your dancing is, I still love you!"

Tsukasa gives him a sour look. "You're not taking this seriously enough."

Leo laughs again, leaning over to grab one of Tsukasa's hands and pull the both of them into a standing position. "Newbie! You are just way TOO serious." He starts to run of somewhere, the hold on Tsukasa's hand so tight, he can't help but follow Leo.

"Hey, where are we going?"

"Out!" Leo exclaims with a smile. "That night we tried to summon an UFO-" he doesn't finish that sentence and just nods to himself, pushing the door to the school yard open with his foot. "Let's do that again!"

* * *

 Arashi's smile is more than a bit mischievous when Tsukasa and Leo walk through the door together.

"Oh, looks like Tsukasa-chan had some _fun_ with Ou-sama. I'm glad we're all getting along so well lately."

Tsukasa wants to protest, but he is still trying to catch his breath. Summoning an UFO – or, as he would rather call it, dance practice in the school yard – is more exhausting than one might think. Once Leo managed to make him start dancing, he kept criticizing almost all of his movement. It made Tsukasa very irritated but even more dedicated to try harder, to finally show his leader he isn't as inexperienced as he thought. Looking back, it was a silly thing to do, because he couldn't accomplish his goal and now he's already sweating and panting when practice hasn't even started. On top of all this, Leo doesn't seem exhausted at all, which is honestly just _offensive_.

Somebody save him from Tsukinaga Leo.

* * *

 "Anija says he and his puppy heard how Ou-sama even made you to sit in his lap. Can you do that for me too?" Ritsu asks after one of their training sessions. Tsukasa draws his eyebrows together, a frown forming on his face.

"I don't know what your brother heard, but I would never do something as shameful – especially not with someone as bothersome as our leader!"

"Ehh? But Suuchan~ I need a pillow!"

"Now, now," Arashi steps between them, lips curled into a smile for some reason. "Leave Tsukasa-chan some air to breath, okay?"

The moment passes, but in the following days, Tsukasa can't help but notice the way people fall silent when he passes, only to start whispering once he turns his back to them. It's not that he's not used to people talking about him – Knights doesn't really have the best reputation, even when they try their hardest to fix it, there's always some stains that remain. Still, this is something entirely different. If they were talking about his unit and the mess it used to be, they certainly wouldn't giggle like middle school kids.

To be frank, all of this only fuel Tsukasa's irritation and annoyance. It also makes him wonder why, or rather how people could think and actually believe he fell for someone like Leo. When people describe Suou Tsukasa, heir of the Suou family, they usually use words like level-headed, calm and elegant. A boy who knows how to keep his dignity. Definitely not someone who would fall for a person like Tsukinaga Leo. Or someone who runs through the halls of the school with scribbles covering his face. And yet –

"Leader! You did it _again_ ," he complains, chasing Leo through the hall ways a few days later.

"Come on, come on! Calm down, newbie," Leo shouts back, followed by a loud laugh. " _Relax_ , as you would say with your good pronunciation. Aahhh, I love you."

They almost bump into Isara and Adonis and a bunch of other students, before Leo sneaks into one of the empty classrooms.

"Why are you always like this?" Tsukasa asks exhausted, trying to catch his breath. His annoyance builds up even further, now that he's been chasing after Leo for so long, only to end up in this normal classroom.

Leo smiles at him in a funny way. Almost _fondly_ , if Tsukasa didn't know any better. "This might be the next song for Knights," he says instead. He moves closer to Tsukasa and traces the writing on his face with a finger. "Seeing you is always an inspiration," he beams, much too cheerful.

If he is going somewhere with this, he better hurry up, because in case someone sees them like this, Tsukasa is sure no one will believe him they're not dating.

Part of him wants to reply with something rude, or at least say how this certainly doesn't apologize Leo's behaviour, but. The words of his leader ring in his mind and he thinks of the things that happened between them, the time they spent together, how he danced with Leo outside. It's weird. He doesn't like Leo and definitely doesn't like- _like_ Leo. Even when Keito said there's a chance Tsukasa might swear his loyalty to Leo one day, he just couldn't believe is. But now, uhm.

Before he can rationalize his actions properly – think before acting, like he was taught– he leans into Leo's touch. There's a puff of warm breath against his face. Too soft and light to be Leo's laugh. It's not bad though. He can feel the fingertips leave his cheek, to his disappointment, but they are quickly replaced with the palm of a hand.

"You like that, huh?" Leo murmurs so quiet, he had to be talking to himself.

Tsukasa opens his eyes to look at Leo, not entirely sure when he closed them. Those restless green eyes are completely focused on him. Suddenly he remembers he has never seen leader looking so concentrated and collected before, besides when he gets hit by inspiration. While his leader usually is so irritating and easily distracted and annoying and _impossible_ , he feels so … _real_ now. Although Tsukasa is aware this moment can just fade as easily as it came, he wants it to last just a little bit longer. He likes this side of his irresponsible leader. It feels so steady. _Eternal_.

"Ou-sama," he mutters and Leo's eyes widen. It takes him a moment until a smile appears on his lips.

"Didn't think you'd ever call me this way," he says softly, tilting his head to the side. His warm green eyes are far too nice to look at. They should be forbidden, Tsukasa thinks. In the back of his mind, he wonders how he always failed to notice this captivating part of Leo.

He can only tear his gaze away from the beautiful eyes when someone steps through the door and Leo's warm hand leaves his cheek.

"Oh, what do we have here?" Rei asks, not even trying to hold back a smirk. Koga lurks into the room too, but he seems less amused. Tsukasa hopes they're not making any fast conclusions, because this is not, they have not –

They didn't do anything wrong, he thinks, but, oh well. This definitely will just add up to the rumours, huh?

A glance to the side shows him Leo looks about as displeased as Koga. "What do you want?" he growls. With his orange hair, he suddenly reminds Tsukasa of an angry lion. One that got angry someone got into its way during a hunt and _oh_. Tsukasa blushes, trying to shove away the idea of being Leo's pray. That's just ridiculos.

Rei raises his hands in what is supposed to be a calming gesture, except that he still has this knowing grin on his face, as if he caught them doing something lewd. "Please forgive us for interrupting you. Me and Doggie were looking for a place to play around, but it seems you two were faster."

Tsukasa opens his mouth to reply - they could go somewhere else, it's not like they were doing anything special here anyway – but Leo puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him, scowling at Rei, who mockingly bows his head to him.

"Excuse us. We'll be leaving then," he turns around. Koga blinks, looking from his unit leader to Tsukasa and Leo, before he huffs and follows Rei.

They don't shut the door. Leo makes an irritated noise, crossing the room to close it himself. There they are again, just the two of them, all alone. Leo visibly relaxes, but Tsukasa tenses for no reason whatsoever, no reason besides his silly thoughts. Leo leans back to sit on one of the tables, smiling idly again.

Like he has no care in this world, he starts to hum a song. It bothers Tsukasa to see Leo act like he's al alone, but the humming and the calm expression on his face are very soothing. He has his eyes closed and since there's no one else around, Tsukasa can watch him without any worry.

Being in the same unit and the same club, he spends quite a lot of time with his leader, especially since the incident with the kittens. Still, it's the first time he gets to observe his leader like this. The afternoon sun floods the room through the window and it makes Leo's unkempt hair look like copper. Tsukasa is sure it would feel warm under his fingers if he got to touch it. His thoughts are interrupted by Leo opening his eyes.

"Hey, you can come closer, you know," Leo beckons him over. Tsukasa complies and there he is, standing right in front of Leo. Those intense green eyes roam over him. He feels guilty suddenly, since he did watch Leo the same way just seconds ago, yet this is different. However, his leader seems quite amused with their situation.

"Can you get down on your knees?" Leo asks softly. Tsukasa immediately feels heat spreading in his cheeks at the implication of his leader's request. Surely, he grew up in a respectable household, but honestly, even he knows that much. The internet doesn't exist for nothing after all. Leo hopefully doesn't want him to do something like that. Tsukasa is sure his parents would disown him if _that_ type of rumour reaches their ears.

But Leo just gives him an amused look, tangling his hand in Tsukasa's hair. "Don't worry, just trust me."

Somehow Leo's calm, serious voice helps him relax quite a lot. He complies with no more hesitation. Leo hums softly again, obviously pleased, before he stretches out his right hand. Tsukasa is startled at first, uncertain what his leader wants him to do. A look at those beautiful green eyes – when exactly he stopped seeing Leo as annoying and instead as beautiful, Tsukasa forgot pinpoint, but he'll have time to think about that later – tells him to take the hand.

He's not sure what he expected, to be honest, didn't expect anything at all, but Leo's hand is about the same size as his own one, but much thinner and... softer? It's probably thanks to the cosmetic products he gets from Izumi, Tsukasa thinks.

"Earlier, before those two came in, you, uhm," Leo suddenly stutters uncharacteristically, especially for someone who calls himself a king. Sure, Leo never acts like much of a king, but the current lack of confidence is certainly something new. It isn't a bad change though. Tsukasa can't help but find this side of the leader fascinating, so he patiently waits for Leo to continue talking. "You called me 'Ou-sama.'"

"Oh," Tsukasa suddenly feels embarrassed for slipping earlier. But then all the others call Leo like that, so there should be no reason for him to get ashamed for it. "I'm sorry if I –"

"No, no," Leo interrupts him. "I mean, I did tell you that I like it when you call me leader, since you're the only one who does that. But," he takes a deep breath, "if you finally managed to call me your king, you should know I'd like to have you. As my knight, I mean," he adds quickly, making Tsukasa laugh. His awkward side is also a good side of Leo.

Some time later, when Tsukasa thinks back to this, he wonders if there was something else Leo wanted to say. But in the present, Tsukasa doesn't take that much time to think. Out of instinct, he holds on tighter to Leo's hand and brings it to his lip. The contact doesn't last long, but Leo sucks in a breath. When Tsukasa looks up, he seems his smile contently.

"It's a honour to be yours."

Later that day, they walk through the halls of the school together. Leo has his hand on the small of Tsukasa's back, but for once, Tsukasa can't be bothered to protest or get annoyed. While he still worries about what people think, it's not like they can completely forget something they heard. He's an idol, so he might as well play along, just once. And hey, maybe sometimes things change for the better.


End file.
